Mr. Zack braced himself for Leo to make a move. His brain was on the game he was supposed to play with him and nothing else. He focused his eyes on Leo and observed his every movement, no matter how little. The latter lifted the ball and Mr. Zack expected him to bounce the ball and come at him. However, what the boy did next shocked him.

BOOM!

Instead of bouncing the ball, Leo threw it against the iron fence. The force caused a dent on the wall and the ball was stuck on it. Mr. Zack stared at Leo with astonishment. It takes tremendous amount of force to cause a dent so deep on the iron fence. The dent was so deep that the ball got stuck in it. He looked at the ball and then at Leo.

“I said… not interested.” Leo said with a deep and threatening voice. Mr. Zack gave a disappointed face and shook his head.
“Too bad…” he said and cracked his knuckles. Leo frowned as he sensed a killing intent and he put up a defensive stance. Like as if he was right, Mr. Zack suddenly appeared in front of him with his fist in the air, attempting to launch a punch at Leo, “…you don’t get to make that choice!” He said and punched Leo with a tremendous force that would’ve sent him flying if his balance wasn’t good. It only sent him sliding back a few meters.

He gritted his teeth and frowned at the man in front of him. He had already started to calculate his next move by looking critically at his every little movement. Mr. Zack smirked and rubbed his wrist.
“Hmm. Strong balance. Seeing the good condition of your hand, I will say you’ve got a strong body too.” He speculated casually, but Leo didn’t lose his guard. Suddenly, the man disappeared in front of him and appeared behind him. Leo gasped slightly and dodged the incoming punch, missing him by a hair’s breadth. He quickly jumped away from the man to avoid any more sudden movement from the old coach standing in front of him.

Mr. Zack’s fist hit the ground and cracked it. Leo was shocked at this point. ‘He’s so strong and fast that he can punch a concrete floor and crack it. Not to speak of strength, his speed is bizarre.’ Leo thought. At this point, he got cautious of Mr. Zack. He realized that this man’s strength could match his.
“Hmm. I can see your dexterity is also good. So is your reflexes. However…” he claimed and gave a creepy smile, “Your skills aren’t up to par.” He said. Leo didn’t say anything and just watched him as he moved.

Since he didn’t get any comment from Leo, he felt like this guy was even more mysterious and he was tempted to check out his strength even more. He took a fighting stance and motioned for Leo to come. The latter knew that turning away from this fight was impossible, so he had no choice but to fight. However, he decided against showing his full power, as that could implicate their game against Brighton academy.

He lunged himself with a blinding speed towards the coach and tried to deliver a punch. The punch held a lot of power in them but to his astonishment, Mr. Zack caught the punch with one hand.
“Just what I’d expect from you.” He said and attempted to punch Leo in the abdomen but he blocked it with his other hand and pulled his fist away from Mr. Zack’s fist before jumping to deliver a spinning kick but the latter caught his leg and spun around a few times before throwing him. Leo landed on the wall with his leg which he used to lunge himself.

He threw a few punches at the coach but the man was either able to block them or divert the punches. Leo wasn’t using his full strength or full speed, but he knew that if he did, he still couldn’t win.
‘Right now, the only thing that can help me is to be smarter than this man.’ He thought and he jumped back to access the whole thing. ‘For a man faster than me, I don’t think there’s anything I can do to defeat this man. He’s not just stronger than me, but he’s faster too. In order to outsmart him, I’ll need to confuse him first. But how?’ He thought. Mr. Zack could tell that Leo’s mind was somewhere else, despite looking intently at him.

He suddenly smirked, “You let your guard down.” He yelled and he appeared in front of Leo with a punch coming near his face. Leo was actually expecting this and he suddenly slapped the fist away, causing it to shift away from his head, and with a swift rotation, he attempted to punch the man who was still mid air but he Mr. Zack being fast, could see all of Leo’s movements and he quickly responded to it by blocking.
Leo used a lot more power than before this time and he sent the coach flying back, but the coach landed on his feet. However, Leo didn’t make the man regain his composure and he immediately appeared in front of him and delivered a combo of his own. He gave the coach a punch in the chest with his right hand, used his left hand to give him another punch, then gave him another uppercut on the chest and jumping to give him a short jump kick on the head, sending the coach tumbling back.

He was down, and Leo exhaled deeply. This was a combo move he learned from a movie and he’d always tried to execute it but it wasn’t perfect, even now. ‘that was close.’ He thought and was about to leave but he suddenly heard a low laugh.

“Hahahahaha.” Mr. Zack laughed deeply as he stood up slowly. There was blood in his mouth, as the beating Leo gave him wasn’t ordinary. “I underestimated you. You fight well.” He claimed as he cleaned the blood in the corners of his mouth and spat on the ground.

“You’re a worthy opponent. Therefore, I shall use this move against you.” He blurted with a devilish smile on his face and he tensed his muscles, closed his eyes and took a fighting stance. His face was serious now and he wasn’t smiling like before, “Striking Water tide: whipping tide!” He muttered. Leo felt a wave of calmness wash over him and he almost let his guard down. He looked intently at Mr. Zack and he noticed that this man’s aura was so calm… it was as calm as a tideless sea. Mr. Zack suddenly rushed to Leo with a speed even greater than before and he began hitting Leo in specific points.

He joined his index finger and middle finger together and kept hitting Leo in his joints. Everywhere he struck, Leo felt the place go numb. He tried to regain control but Mr. Zack would just strike again. He felt like he was being beaten by a whip, with the tip of the whip touching his vital points.

Leo groaned as he was being heated by this man and he tried blocking but his body wasn’t responding to him. He had to tank all the hits which felt like torture. After few minutes, Mr. Zack was done with him and Leo felt flat to the ground. He was bleeding in his mouth and his body had a few bruises too. He struggled to get up but he couldn’t.

“You’re strong, no doubt, but your skills are lacking greatly. I doubt if you’ll be able to defeat us.” He said and picked up his bag and left. Despite all the ruckus that had happened due to this fight, they didn’t attract anyone at all.

“Damn it.” Leo punched the floor as he was frustrated about being weak. He felt like all his hard work was all for naught.